# Wine temps??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 21, 2000, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wine-temps/30155 "2000-08-21T14:23:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![H8\_2\_W8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wine-temps/30155/1 "2000-08-21T14:23:47Z")
I’m not much of a wino, but I fairly sure that whites are served chilled and reds at room temperature, providing the room is 68 degrees or so (although I think it tastes better chilled a bit more if possible). What about fruit wines, though? We just got some blackberry wine and a dry cherry wine from a winery store in an orchard region and I don’t know the proper temp for those. Beer, on the other hand, should be ice cold and the bottle should be inverted upon opening until empty. Then repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wine-temps/30155/2 "2000-08-21T15:07:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Best red wines; “big” red wines: 59 to 61 degrees Fahrenheit, 14 to 16 degrees > Centigrade. > Lesser reds, rose, and “complex” white wines: 50 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit, > 10 to 12 degrees Centigrade. > Less complex white wines: 46 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, 8 to 10 degrees > Centigrade. > Sweet white wines, Champagne: 43 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit, 6 to 8 degrees > Centigrade. I’d assume a fruit wine would fall somewhere in the middle, ~55 degrees. Just my WAG though. ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wine-temps/30155/3 "2000-08-21T15:09:16Z")
Shit, I swear it didn’t look like that when I previewed it! \*\* > [@](#): > > Best red wines; “big” red wines: 59 to 61 degrees Fahrenheit, 14 to 16 degrees Centigrade. > Lesser reds, rose, and “complex” white wines: 50 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit, 10 to 12 degrees Centigrade. > Less complex white wines: 46 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, 8 to 10 degrees Centigrade. > Sweet white wines, Champagne: 43 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit, 6 to 8 degrees Centigrade. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wine-temps/30155/4 "2000-08-21T15:14:19Z")
Thanks for the specific information, **Demo!** I hate when people say "Red wines must be served at _room temperature!"_ as they stand around in their ridiculously overheated American homes. Yes, correct, if it’s a room in a chateau in the Loire valley with no central heating. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wine-temps/30155/5 "2000-08-21T15:19:40Z")
Yes, **Uke** and **Demo**! I’m glad someone has said it: Room temperature in France! Not room temp in your living room with the thermostat set on 80! ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wine-temps/30155/6 "2000-08-21T15:34:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by H8\_2\_W8 \* > \*\*I’m not much of a wino, but I fairly sure that whites are served chilled and reds at room temperature, providing the room is 68 degrees or so (although I think it tastes better chilled a bit more if possible). \*\* Demo answered this one. > [@](#): > > \*\* > What about fruit wines, though? We just got some blackberry wine and a dry cherry wine from a winery store in an orchard region and I don’t know the proper temp for those. \*\* There is actually a 4 step process for this. 1. Open wine. 2. Walk to sink 3. Dump wine in sink 4. Go buy some real wine. That should take care of the problem > [@](#): > > \*\* > Beer, on the other hand, should be ice cold and the bottle should be inverted upon opening until empty. Then repeat. \*\* Also a lot of beer should not be served ice cold, you get more of the flavors when it is served slightly warmer. It varies by brew. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wine-temps/30155/7 "2000-08-21T16:47:58Z")
Near here there is a winery (in Michigan - Tabor Hill). Same conditions (they say) as German vineyards. They make a cherry wine. I’m not a big fan, but when you taste it, keep it in your mouth until it warms. For some reason, this brings the cherry flavor out. Its very odd. Goes in tasting like a normal red, then slowly expands in a cherry flavor. Pretty neat. ---
**Author:** ![H8\_2\_W8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wine-temps/30155/8 "2000-08-21T17:44:15Z")
Thanks to everyone, except Oldscratch, who must be a wine snob. Hmmm, let’s see, a grape is a fruit, a cherry is a fruit, a blackberry is a fruit. The juices can be fermented, processed, etc. and a drink can be made, which is called wine. If you like the taste then what does it matter if it is from a cherry or a grape? From France or California or Wisconsin? Without pretense, H8-2-W8 ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wine-temps/30155/9 "2000-08-21T20:47:44Z")
You know, **H8\_2\_W8** , it doesn’t necessarily have to do with snobbishness. The fact is that, yes, you can make wines of all those fruits. However, there is not a tradition of making those types of wines, as there is with “real” wine. And so you don’t have the benefits of thousands of years of experimenting, growing, and grafting, done by thousands of vintners that you do with wine. Wine made from grapes has a long history of refinement, and an attempt to reach perfection. These other wines you speak of lack that. It’s like the difference between Velveeta and a nice Swiss. Sure, they are made with roughly the same process; would you call them interchangeable?